Booth Training

2020 Cookie Program

The 2020 Cookie Program Theme is:

Training Instructions

The following pages contain important information, rules, tips and guidelines for running a successful cookie booth!

Please review the information in its entirety and follow the link to take a short quiz online.

After you complete the quiz, you will receive an email that you can print and turn in to your troop leader to confirm successful completion of the Booth Training.

The Cookie Program

A well known component of Girl Scouting is the Cookie Program. It’s the largest girl-

run business in the world.

Once a year, Girl Scouts around the country venture into the entrepreneurial world to

learn business and financial skills and earn money to fund their Girl Scouting goals.

Girl Scouting aims to empower girls through The FIVE Essential skills:

TOGETHERWe Achieve

MoreGirls who get assistance, support,

and encouragement from their families always have more success than girls who don’t.

Thank you for being a part of your Girl Scout’s success!

Who BAKES OUR Council’s Cookies?

America’s Best Cookies!

*Fun Fact*

There are ONLY TWO

Girl Scout bakers, ABC

and Little Brownie.

This is why you see some

other Councils selling

different varieties, or names

(like Tagalongs and Samoas)

2020 Cookie Lineup

Caramel Chocolate Chip

The Caramel Chocolate Chip

Cookie is per package.

While we don’t want to stamp it with the title of Gluten Free, it is in fact free of Gluten! This allows celiac disease sufferers and those trying to avoid gluten to support the efforts of Girl Scouts as they enjoy a product created just for them.

NOTE:

Only troops who pre-ordered will have this available.

The Cookie Program

makes a lasting

difference in our girls.

This program is

truly more than

“the selling of a cookie.”

Without you, none of the

reasons to the left can happen.

It takes involved adults

mentoring and guiding to allow

her to participate, find success,

work her cookie booth and so

much more.

Your participation sets her up

to find success.

PROCEEDS

Troops can do many things with

their troop proceeds!

Girls can also fund these

adventures using their Cookie

Dough.

*Family finances should never be

a reason why a girl can not

experience all the fun

programming. The Cookie

Program is supposed to provide

and fund her Girl Scout

programming expenses.

Why do we do them?

The Girl Scout Cookie Program gives girls the opportunity to set up, run, and manage their own booth sales.

They select times and locations for their booth sale, conduct buying/selling transactions, handle money, build their presentation and conversation skills, keep records, set up product displays, manage inventory, and much more!

Cookie Booths

Like a retail store, the money is collected on the spot and customers take their cookies with them. Everyone wins, including family adults who don’t have to help their Girl Scouts deliver the cookies and collect payment.

Customers are able to enjoy their delicious purchases immediately, and girls get to interact with lots of people who buy Girl Scout Cookies, in large part to support what girls learn in this great American tradition.

January 31st – February 2nd

Super Bowl Weekend Booth Sales

February 3rd – 6th

NO BOOTHS PERMITTED

February 7th

Official Booth Sale Period Begins

Booth Sale ReportThis can be found on our BLOG (gscookiesblog.com) in the ‘Resources you need’ section, then ‘forms & manuals’ tab!

Booth Staffing

Check all booth guidelines and store restrictions as provided, regarding girl/ adult limits and number of doors allowed. A minimum of two adults and two Girl Scouts must be present at all times. One adult must be a registered Girl Scout and have completed cookie training or this on-line cookie booth training. The other adult can be a mom, dad, grandparent, or any responsible adult over the age of eighteen.

Before scheduling girls to work a booth, be sure to check the booth stipulations to see how many girls may be at the door. Many stores only allow for two girls, and two adults. You can always schedule girls for part of a booth, and switch out midway through to give the girls all a chance to participate. We never want to overwhelm our customers by having too many Girl Scouts by the doors.

Many two door stores, are now considered two booth locations. Make sure and double check which door is for your troop’s booth!

Older Girl Booths 1girl to 1adult

Seniors & Ambassadors ONLY

In an effort to assist our older girls, we have established a program designed to fit the needs of our older Girl Scouts.

Older girls, Senior and Ambassador ONLY, may work 1 to 1 booths.

All 1 to 1 booths must be assigned by their troop in Smart Cookies, just like regular booths.

All cookie booth guidelines must be followed.

Older girls must work in full uniform, meaning sash or vest must be worn to insure no confusion that a “girl” is present.

1 to 1 booths have a poster (found on the cookie blog) that must be displayed at their booths, at all times.

Please keep in mind that these booths are designed to allow older girls an opportunity to booth when

their peers are unable to booth with them. However; always TRY and find a booth buddy first, as that is

the best way to help a Girl Scout sister reach her goals too!

Girl Scout Uniform Requirements

2 to 2 Booths

Sash, Vest, or Smock MUST be worn!

1 to 1 Booths

Only option is FULL uniform: white polo shirt, khaki bottoms, vest or sash.

Uniforms

..even in the cold!

Weather Proof Your Booth in case of rain, sun, snow and

wind..

Bins

Shelves

Tarps

Ponchos – see through for over uniforms and jackets

Umbrella’s

Rain boots

We do not melt, but cookies do – Girls stay warm and dry cookies stay cool and dry.

Begin and end on time.

If you arrive early, be respectful of the troop scheduled before you, so that you don’t interfere with their sales.

Likewise, be prepared to depart when your scheduled time is up. When arriving for your shift, sales PRIOR to your scheduled starting time are THEIRS; sales AFTER your scheduled starting time are YOURS! When ending your shift, sales PRIOR to your ending time are YOURS; sales AFTER your ending time are THEIRS.

During Your Booth

Bring your own equipment and supplies:

Table to display your cookies.

Marketing publicity posters, troop banners, etc, for your display.

Inventory always try to have every flavor available so you don’t lose sales.

Always keep boxes/cases off the ground, even when setting up or breaking down your booth.

Utilize wagons, crates, or other platforms. Empty cases may not be used as decoration or a base. It cannot be verified that they are empty.

DO NOT use the location’s shopping carts to store inventory or booth items during the booth.

NEVER GIVE COOKIE SAMPLES to customers.

It is against California Health Department regulations.

Girls AND adults should wear Girl Scout appropriate attire.

Uniform/ Troop t-shirt preferable.

Girl Scout membership pins should always be worn.

Be conservative~ no short-shorts or visible cleavage!

Siblings and pets MUST be left at home.

Tag-a-longs are not allowed at a booth sales.

Girls should take their breaks away from the booth and NEVER eat at a booth.

Do NOT allow girls to block store entrances or exits. Customers should be approached only upon exiting the store. Abide by store rules!

Watch the girls, money, and cookies, carefully. Watch for anyone loitering in the area. Notify security guards or leave if you feel the location is not safe.

Always use good judgment, if you don’t feel safe, pack up the booth and leave. Call your leader and/or the team and we will find you another place to go.

1. Smile and say thank you to all customers, whether they buy or not.

2. Be prepared to answer questions such as “What is your favorite cookie?” or “Which cookies have nuts or other allergens?”

3. Have an order card handy to reference nutritional information and ingredient lists.

4. Approach a customer one girl at a time; don’t overwhelm them with a large group of girls.

5. Be sure that girls are the ones sharing information at all times.

6. Be sure to only approach customers on their way out of the facility.

7. Have girls practice their “elevator speech” together.

Selling

Strategies at Booths

• Turn money into your leader immediately and/or deposit it ASAP.

• If you sell at a grocery store, you can purchase a money order made payable to the Troop, then deposit it into your troop account later.

• Use the “Troop Booth Sale Report” to keep track of cookies and money at each booth sale.

• Tip: You can make copies of the report.

• Leave your area clean by bringing trash bags and take your empty cardboard cases with you; do not leave them at the store or in their trash cans. Remember, Girl Scouts Leave No Trace!

You CANNOT offerSales, Discounts,

and Raffles

• The price of Girl Scout Cookies is non-

negotiable. They are $5.00 per box, ($6.00

for Gluten Free) period. Troops cannot

offer their own special promotions.

• The only special promotions allowed will be

those that are offered Council-wide.

• Offering special promotions such as: buy

one/ get one, half-price, discounts, etc., are

NOT allowed.

• Raffles and opportunity drawings (buy XXX

and get a chance to win XXX), although

creative, are also NOT allowed.

Collecting Money

Have change available.

Never ask the host business for change.

Do not leave cash visible to customers.

Only adults should handle the cash box.

Girls can give “change” but large bills should be handled by adults.

If displaying an I-Care donation container, empty it on a regular basis to prevent theft.

Do not accept bills larger than $20.00.

We encourage troops to NOT accept checks!

**NO customer checks are to be made payable to GSSGC or the Troop.

•If a customer would like to pay by check, it is up to the adult if they would like to accept that responsibility. •If they choose to accept responsibility, the customer must make a check out to that adult, and then that adult can write a check to the troop. •The only checks that should be made to the troop would be from parents themselves. Be sure to write the signer’s Driver’s License # or State ID # on the check.

***NOTE: If a check is returned to the troop Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF), Council will NOT cover the loss of funds.

This cannot be turned in as a bad debt, you are “at your own risk” when accepting checks.

NSF CHECKS

Counterfeit MoneyBe cautious when accepting money.

• Council will only accept bad debt for counterfeits of $20 bills and less. We will not

accept $50’s or $100’s as bad debt. We suggest you do not take $50’s and $100’s, as

such you take these at your own risk.

• A bad debt form must be filled out for the counterfeit bill waiving the troop’s

responsibility for that dollar amount.

• Counterfeit bills are either turned into the police department or seized by the bank. In

either case a receipt is given to the troop leader in exchange for the bad bill.

*This receipt must be attached to the bad debt form

THE I CARE PROGRAM

“If you can’t eat

them, treat them.”

I- Care cookies are

purchased and donated to

the military or our regional

partners, like food banks

and homeless shelters.

This is an excellent way to

have your customers

participate in doing a good

deed through buying Girl

Scout Cookies.

Reason given for not buying, is not being asked!

Almost 9/10 people will buy Girl Scout Cookies if asked..

#1A Girl Scout

Cookie Booth is a

service to the

existing

customers of a

business and can

attract new

customers to the

store or office.

NOT Using a Booth You Scheduled?

Troops MUST cancel any booth that they are not

going to use. This is done through Smart Cookies.

This is very important so that another troop looking for a booth can schedule that spot, even if at the

last minute.

Setting Goals Leads to Success!

Goal setting is an important part of leadership, and cookie time is a great occasion to learn and practice. Did you know that the #1 way to increase the number of packages your team sells is to set goals? It's true!

Tip: Before each booth, talk to

the girls about their goals!

Marketing

Be CREATIVEwith displays.

However, please REMEMBER:

Sometimes “offers” that seem like great marketing are not allowed.

It is important to follow the guidelines in your Family Guide and Coordinator Guide to cookies.

Some Ideas Seem Great…

A Prop 65 flyer or “table tent”

must be displayed at EVERY

BOOTH SALE!

The table tent can be found on

our gscookiesblog.com :

› Resources You Need

› Marketing Materials

› Prop 65 Table Tent

Fold here,

and place on

the table at

your booth.

PROP 65

• Do not set up a booth sale in a non approved locations. Only set up where your troop has been scheduled to sell, through Smart Cookies.

• Booth sale locations are arranged and contracted by trained volunteers ONLY.

• Do NOT approach store managers of potential booth locations on your own. If you see a location we do not currently have available, notify your regional cookie team, and they will see if it is a viable location to add to the booth scheduler in SNAP

• If you own a business and would like to have a booth sale there, your regional team must approve it and complete the necessary paperwork. Standard booth guidelines will still apply. You may not sell cookies from the counter at your business.

IMPORTANT:

SERIOUS NO-NO’S, DON’T DO THIS EVER!!!!!!

• Do NOT sell cookies from another council, EVER!!!!!!

• Do NOT sell cookies for more or less than they cost.

• Do NOT sell expired cookies – duh!

• Do NOT sample cookies – ever!

• Do Not fight with store managers or other parents!!!!

If you do, or one of your families does, what happens???

• Sale comes to an immediate halt• Loss of troop proceeds• Still owe council for cookies• Can be removed from leadership position• State board of health can fine you

The Booth Sale Adult and Girl Scout Pledge

• We will set up our booth sale in the area stores have designated and not

in any other areas.

• We will not complain about any of the rules that Council set and we

promise to follow them.

• We will not block the entrance and we will only approach customers as

they are leaving the business.

• We will be identifiable as a Girl Scout and MUST wear our Girl Scout

Uniform and Membership Pin, and have a neat and clean appearance.

Our Adults will follow this guideline as well.

Pledge cont…

• Adults will be present with us at all times and we will resolve our own conflicts peacefully.

• We will bring our own change and not ask stores for change during our sale.

• We will have a good attitude, smile, and say thank you even if a customer does not buy.

• We will bring our own table and hang our signs on our table, not on booth location property.

• We will clean up after our booth sale and take our trash with us.

• We will park away from the front of business and not take up good parking spaces.

• We will notify our leader if we need to cancel.

Pledge cont…

• Adults will be representatives of Girl Scouts and will remember…

• NO Smoking at a booth

• NO Drinking or having alcohol at a booth

• NO tag-a-longs or pets to a booth; this means no Non-Registered Girl Scouts

• I Will use good mentoring language not harsh foul language

• I Will speak to fellow leaders, parents, council staff in a civil manner

• I Will remember that Girl Scouts are looking up to me for guidance

• I Will Not act in a way that will adversely effect the Girl Scouts, i.e. shop lifting at the store where your girls are working

• I Will remember that I am helping my Girl Scouts reach a goal and my behavior helps them learn about work ethic and working for what they want to earn. I will be a good role model! – this is not just words rather a trust that you will act in this manner.

• We will complete a booth sale report with inventory and cash on hand.

Southern California Girl Scout CouncilsOperating Principles for 2020 Cookie Program

The five Southern California Girl Scout councils (Greater Los Angeles, San Diego, Central Coast, San Gorgonio, and Orange County) agree to train

all troops and volunteers involved in the 2020 Cookie Program in accordance with these

operating principles, and in compliance with GSUSA’s Safety Activity Checkpoints and

Volunteer Essentials.

Each council sells cookies via the

DIRECT SALE format.

Girls must not pre-sell, or distribute

cookies in hand, until their Council’s

respective start date. Girls must follow

the start date for the Council that they

are members of, regardless if they live

in another Council’s delineated border.

NO EARLY SELLING

under any circumstances.

Border Allowances

Selling cross-border is allowed on an exception basis and is to be trained as

such. All girls must adhere to universal rules for uniform, adult presence

requirements, etc. Cross-border exception selling begins on the same day as the

council’s start date, as above, and with these cross-border conditions:

1.Family: Troops can sell to family, and to family’s neighbors.

2.Friends: Immediate friends are OK. Friend’s ‘neighborhoods’ cannot be

defined, are untenable and prohibited.

3.Workplace: In the parent/guardian’s immediate workplace only; no friend’s

nor family’s workplaces.

4.Exception to the exception: Official Cookie Program activities such as LBB’s

Cookie Club and ABC’s Cookie Zone email marketing programs enables

girls to sell to family, friends, and previous customers regardless of where

they live.

Booth Sales

• Allowed within Council jurisdiction only, at all times,

• Allowed only within each Council’s published boothing period,

• Cross-border “popped trunks” or walkabouts are not approved booth locations and are prohibited.

Review of Training

1. I took a pledge, I will abide by it.

2. I understand that booth sales are leadership activities and the Girl Scouts I work with at my booth are being guided by my deeds and my actions.

3. I understand that I represent Girl Scouts whenever I am at a cookie booth, and will be courteous, honest and fair.

4. I will help my Girl Scouts with their booth sale by being the best that I can be.

5. I will assist with marketing, customer service and above all, safety.

6. I will follow all booth sale rules:• No sampling

• No cookie cases on the ground

• No harassing customers if they say “no thank you” when asked to buy cookies.

In this world of “too much,”

Girl Scouting provides a foundation, a

sense of purpose and

involves our girls in a

multitude of learning and

enriching activities.

Girls who have no access to

scouting do not create the

extended family network of

scouting, and find that they

are bored more easily and

are often lonely.

Won’t you create a space

within your troop for even

one more girl?

Take the quiz!Follow this link:

https://girlscoutsgssgc.wufoo.com/forms/2020-cookie-program-booth-training-quiz/